Misshapen heads | Autism PDD

This sounds weird but do any of your kids have a head that is not perfectly round, one that is slightly sloped or misshapen in some way? I ask b/c both my boys have imperfect head shapes in the back and I was wondering if this is a common thing with kids on the spectrum.

Sarah's head is really large & lumpy to me~she has so much hair so it covers them up nicely:)my mother has always said that my children's heads have a little bit of an odd shape. I've had an OT mention it as well. lts like my kids have more of a straight side then round and flat in the back. My son's head seems to be flat toward the top backside. He was born via c-section and he was in the footing breech position....so (to my knowledge) his head never reached the birth canal. When he was being tested for genetic disorders, the geneticist felt it was necessary to measure around his head

Babies can have oddly shaped heads for many reasons...position in womb, type of delivery, sleeping position...also medical conditions such as hydrocephalus can cause abnormal changes in the shape of the head. If you have any concerns, ask your doc for a referral to have this further evaluated.

My ds has a huge head. Even befoe he got an asd dx the doc mentioned
getting an MRI because it is of the charts. What does it mean? I don't
know.My son had a large and flat in the back head. Hair covers great, but I have to really monitor his hair cuts so that it does not become noticable. It was very noticable as a baby. Older kids at church especially and his older sister would always say what a big head he has. And his head circumference was larger than the norm on his eval, but they didn't seem concerned.Sharlet's head is a little big, but a nice shape. There are several kids at EL with autism whom I have noticed have abnormal head shapes though. Not ment to freak anyone (including myself) out, but you could google
chiari. It is something like the compression of the cerebral-
spinal fluid (?) and can case malformation of the head. I don't know to
much about it. I think more extreme forms require a shunt but most
people have few sx.

My son also had plagiocephaly - and wore 2 doc bands. The vaccum birth and sleeping on his back (per SIDs prevention) probably made it worse. You can see his "corner" when his hair is wet.

Just for clarification, craniosacral manipulation was developed by osteopathic physicians, or DOs. I am a DO family doc. Although there are courses for other professionals such as OTs, PTs, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc. to learn craniosacral manipulation, if you have any interest in this treatment I would first try to find an osteopathic physician who specializes in manipulation AND treats children if your child is young. Just like with anything else, you must do your homework!Their heads are shaped fine but Andrew's head was a little on the large side so the dev pedi did order an MRI. Everything was fine though. For him I think its something he inherited from my MIL and the polish side of the family. DH is polish, and many on that side have perfectly round heads, like pumpkins my mother always said. LOL! But I think that's why it measures large.

My four yeard old who is PDD-NOS has a flat spot in the back. When he was about 6 months old we even took him to a cranio-facial clinic to see if he needed the helmet. They said it was plagiocephaly but I often wonder if it isn't related to his autism.

Laurie

Ryan's head is a nice round shape. Maybe slightly larger since we have a hard time getting his shirt on and off. But Megan's is odd shaped. Kind of flat on the back but you can't tell with all her hair. My son's head is very flat in the back. I had an xray done when he was around 6 months old to check to see if the plate sutures were forming correctly. Everything checked out fine and he's been sleeping on his stomach since he was 4 months old - so it very well may be genetic or autism related. The circumference is normal, actually the same size as his twin sister, but it is definitely misshapen. C's head is normal shaped. I've never had any concerns over head related issues.

nick's head was always big, and square. imagine that, a square head?! as a baby, my sister lovingly called him "frankinstien head" lol. here's a picture to prove it.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k225/tiggerjnry/scan0001.j pg

My son's head has always been big and round but he was born by c section. Once when he was about 1 1/2 and had little hair and had on a certain shirt, my daughter thought he looked just like charlie brown

As he has gotten older his head has elongated some and has a very cute shape.

My daughter's head was very flat in back as a baby. She was adopted internationally though and spent a lot of time on a flat surface on her back, so it made sense at the time. It never seems to have fully rounded out though. It's also always been small, but on the charts. I've heard this is unusual for autism.

Her OT also mentioned that kids with autism often have mishapen heads and cheeks tend to be chubbier due to low tone. I know some OT's study sacral osteopathy to help w/autism symptoms, but I know nothing about it. They somehow work with the head.

T's head is narrow (dolichocephalic) and pretty even-looking. She has always had tons of hair so no idea about lumps!

My other two, from China and Guatemala have big, round, lumpy heads, flat in back! In any case I think head shape is more to do with race, delivery, and sleep position, than any pathological symptoms ...

Bumpy and big, unusual. He was breach too and had C-section.
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